Saving Uchiha Sasuke
by Serenity-in-the-storm
Summary: A girl tries to stop Uchiha Sasuke's descent into madness. One-shot. OC


Note: Hey guys. Chihori is my OC, who takes Karin's place in Team Hebi. Story takes place after Madara's revelation of the Uchiha massacre to Sasuke.

* * *

They had been silent for a while. He stood facing the ocean, with his back towards her. Chihori stared at his silhouette against the backdrop of the crashing waves. His frame was still and unmoving, but seemed to blend in with the methodical movement of the waves.

Stillness was okay, she mused. It was much preferable to the uncontrollable racking of his frame and his heart-wrenching sobs that though silent, seemed to penetrate the entire area of the rocks they were standing on. She had shed her tears along with his – tears that leaked irrepressibly from her eyes when she tried to fathom what he had gone through. From witnessing his entire clan massacred by a brother who he admired and trusted, to living with an all-consuming thirst for power and revenge, to finally facing the shock and betrayal of the truth that crumbled his world and confounded everything that he had lived for…a pang of pain shot trough her heart once again. Yes, stillness was indeed better. But stillness only meant that the first phase Madara's revelation was over. He had managed to exert control, even if it were only a thin layer of ice above dark waters, over his raw agony. The crucial part where the entire Team Hebi was waiting in bated breath for was coming. As subjects and followers, they stood behind their leader, waiting silently for his commandment and direction. Finally, his frame shifted as he turned his head slightly to glance at the three figures behind him.

"Hebi. We are going to destroy Konoha."

One by one, the members of Team Hebi nodded dutifully and teleported away, leaving Chihori alone with a mind that was filled with a whir of questions. Destroy an entire village? That was sheer madness! Granted, he was one of the most powerful shinobi she had ever known, but an entire village might cost him his life! Or maybe…she stilled in horror. Maybe he wanted to die. Maybe he wanted to bring the entire village down with him. It was understandable, for Konoha had practically destroyed his life, and once it was gone he would have nothing else to live for. It was not only a convenient way to unleash his anger, but also a quick remedy to his guilt for having his brother's blood stains on his hands. But it was by no means permissible, at least not by her.

She looked at the figure that had turned fully to face her. "Why, Sasuke, why destroy the entire village?"

His mouth turned upwards to form an ugly sneer, marring his elegant features. Against the setting sun, his face was dark with shadow. "Why indeed. Hn. They don't deserve to live."

"But there are innocents! Those people who were not aware of the plot, who didn't have anything to do with the entire…" She trailed off, unwilling to bring up the massacre to add salt to his raw wound.

"Nonsense. They don't matter. Everyone in that damn village doesn't deserve the peaceful happy life they are living." His hand grasped the hilt of Kusanagi with such force that his fingers were trembling. "I will take that away from them. They must die."

Chihori reeled. Destroying a whole village…how many would die? She had never been into a village before, but surely there would be a lot of people inside. Would their deaths even matter to her? Logically speaking, it was a no, but as her mind conjured up images of people being cut down, families being torn apart, countless children weeping…

"You can't do this, Sasuke. You just can't. Think about it…" She was clutching at the straws of her reasoning to come up with something. And the moment she did, she blurted it out without thought. "Would your brother want you to destroy the village he protected with his life?"

A flash of red flitted across his eyes. Apparently mentioning his brother hadn't been a wise move. But she wasn't really thinking, her brain was going into overdrive with all her questions and concerns. "Sasuke, I can't lose you like this, I can't let you turn into a monster just like this", she thought desperately. A plea of "no, Sasuke, don't do this" began to fill her mind.

"Shut up. What would you know about my brother? What would you know about his sacrifice, huh?" His voice cracked. "He was an idiot. A selfish idiot."

"He was a selfless idiot. He sacrificed his life so that the village can have peace and you can return as a hero. How can you not understand that? Stop being so selfish! You're not destroying the village for him, you're doing it for yourself!" She exclaimed as she stared at his Sharingan-activated eyes. Her exclamation reverberated through the area. For a moment, there was silence. Then there was a hollow chuckle.

"Hah. Hahaha! So what? So what if I'm doing this for myself! So what if I'm being SELFISH!" He all but yelled. "You know what? I would spare every single one of their worthless lives, if they could just give me back the life of my brother. But they can't! He's dead! He paid for their lives with his blood. Now, they must pay for his life with their blood!"

No. This was getting dangerous. She had to stop this. "Sasuke, you have to stop and think. What are you going to do after you've destroyed the village? Will it be satisfying? It'll just be the same as when you killed Itachi!"

That was a very bad move. She had tried in a desperate attempt to reason with him, hoping that her words would trigger something to stop his madness, but she had failed. Instead, her words had triggered something even more dangerous. His Mangekyō Sharingan flashed wildly in the dark. Neither of them had noticed the creeping darkness slowly replacing the setting sun.

"You don't understand." His voice trembled with raw rage. "I thought you did. I thought you were _different_." That last word was spat out, and Chihori flinched.A sadistic smile started forming on his lips. He ambled towards her slowly, and somehow she thought it reminiscent of a predator's walk towards a prey.

"What I'm going to do huh…" he drawled, as if he was contemplating her question. "Why don't I wait until I kill everybody in that village first?!" Her eyes could barely register a slight movement before a flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the darkness. Chihori felt something hot brush past her face and milliseconds later, a huge "CRACK!" sounded from behind her. She whipped her head around just to see a huge rock, one that had been behind her, crumble into dust onto the ground. And when she turned back, she found the Uchiha's face millimeters away from hers. He reached out his hand to tap her chin lightly. If it had been in any other scenario, Chihori's heart would have skipped a beat. But now, she gulped in terror.

"Chihori." He raised her chin so that she would be staring at him. And with great hesitancy, she met his red eyes that were blazing with fury. They screamed one word: Betrayal. By now, her self-defense instincts were starting to kick in. Her brain was yelling at her to run away. But sheer will, kindness and a little bit of pity kept her rooted firmly to the ground. No, she could not just allow him to go on this quest of killing his village. She had been with him for two years, she had talked with him, interacted with him, and she understood the pain that he constantly buried. Heck, she was no psychologist, but she definitely knew that what he needed now was not more destruction, but restoration. He needed to find his peace to finally let go of his haunting past that was causing him so much anger and hurt. And revenge was not the way to acceptance, but the way to more emptiness and bloodshed.

However, it seemed like no one in this shinobi world could actually understand her way of thinking. Especially the raven-haired boy in front of her. After calming herself down, she met his eyes yet again. She forced herself not to give in to the fear that was returning at the sight of his swirling blood-shot eyes and spoke with words that were soft, yet firm.

"You think what you are doing right now is justified. You think that you should be allowed to cut every single one of those villagers, including innocents and children, down. You think that you are entitled to hear their cries of anguish and see their lifeless eyes as they drown in a pool of their blood." She could see the Uchiha's body tensing up, and she knew she had to speak quickly before his anger fully kicked in. "You think that their deaths would pay the price of your brother's sacrifice. But guess what?" She knew her next words would hurt him deeply, but she continued on mercilessly. "Itachi would never be proud of you. He would be disappointed in you for destroying what he protected and loved. He would be disappointed in you for taking his gift to you and throwing it back on the mud. Not only would you have killed him, you would have dishonored him, you would have spat on his grave –"

The next thing she felt was her back being slammed against another rock. Her first coherent thought was to curse the conveniently huge number of rocks. Her second one, as she caught a glimpse of his Mangekyō Sharingan, was that she was so screwed.

"You." His voice was raspy with unadulterated rage. "Shut up. SHUT UP." She could not help the shivers that went down her spine. "Take that all back now."

She mutely shook her head. If it was possible, his anger increased tenfold. Rage bubbled and boiled like a potent and addictive concoction in the cauldron that was his body. This was too much. Pain, anger, betrayal and guilt assaulted him, and like poison they drained him of his clarity and control. He responded in the only way he could. Channeling all these emotions into actions, he snapped and allowed his instincts to take over rational thought. And his instinct was to return whatever hurt and betrayal he had just received.

Before he knew it, a Chidori had formed in his right hand. And before he knew it, that Chidori was headed straight for the black-haired girl in front of him. His eyes widened just before it made contact, as if he had regained his senses, but it was too late. The jutsu hit its mark.

"Ahhh!" There was a gasp of pain, in which he snapped out of his trance. When he directed his gaze to the rocky floor, he unknowingly took a step back. And another step back. Before him was a black-haired girl, who was writhing in pain while clutching her abdominal area. A pool of red was rapidly staining her clothes. All Sasuke could do was to stare. He had just…what? His mind was in a whirl as he stared at the red that was starting to drip from the hems of her kimono. He stared at the rare expression of pain on her face. He stared and stared. He took a half-step forward, perhaps in a bid to allay the grievous pain that he had semi-consciously inflicted.

But a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. "Sasuke-kun." It was Madara Uchiha.

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So how was it? It was supposed to be a part of a story, but I decided to test it's reception before I write a full-blown 100k word story. Who knows? Maybe if I receive enough feedback...(wink wink)


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